On April 8, 2001, police arrested Mohamed Lemine ChʿBih Ould Cheikh Melainine, leader of the Popular Front. Despite widespread criticism by opposition parties and international human rights organizations, he was brought to trial in Nouakchott on May 9 and charged with criminal conspiracy. Defense lawyers resigned in protest after the proceedings were abruptly moved to Aioun, near the Malian border, 800 km (500 mi) south of the capital. Though critics condemned the trial as nothing more than a show, Melainine was sentenced on June 14 to five years’ imprisonment.

On August 4 an agreement on fishing rights was renewed between the government and the European Union. Despite the fears of environmentalists that increased fishing would further reduce the already sharply depleted stocks, the revised protocol nevertheless allowed for an increased number of European vessels to fish the area around the island of Agadir off the northern Mauritanian coast.

King Muhammad VI of Morocco began a three-day state visit to Mauritania on September 10. Ties had been strained between the two countries since 1975, when in a dispute over independence for Western Sahara, claimed by Morocco, Mauritania had actively supported the Western Saharan Polisario Front; Mauritania later shifted its stance to one of neutrality, and the king’s visit was seen as an indication of the importance that both countries attached to improving relations.

In the legislative and municipal elections held on October 19 and 26, the ruling Democratic and Social Republican Party garnered 51% of the vote and captured 64 of the 81 seats in the National Assembly.